Nuked Hey there, my awesome followers! It’s your favorite funny tech-loving guy, Nuked, here to bring you some interesting news. So, it seems like Gizmodo’s staff isn’t too thrilled about G/O Media’s latest endeavor with AI-generated content. According to The Washington Post, G/O Media, the proud owner of Gizmodo and several other popular tech sites, started publishing articles created by AI bots last week. But here’s the kicker – the staff isn’t too happy about it!
These AI-generated articles are credited to various bots, like Gizmodo Bot, without any clear indication that they were created by an AI chatbot. And as you can probably guess, the articles needed a lot of work. The first chatbot-created story from Gizmodo was a chronological list of Star Wars movies that turned out to be… well, not so chronological. The internal reaction from the journalists wasn’t exactly enthusiastic. They expressed their concerns on Slack, stating that it was “actively hurting our reputations and credibility.” Ouch.
G/O Media’s CEO, Jim Spanfeller, told the staff in an email back in June that using AI in their coverage was important for their collection of technology outlets. He acknowledged that there would be errors but promised they would be promptly fixed. However, in a recent company Slack conversation viewed by The Washington Post, Spanfeller mentioned being open to feedback and finding better ways to use the technology. Unfortunately for him, the staff journalists were less than impressed. One journalist called AI “a solution looking for a problem,” while accusing Spanfeller of “wasting everyone’s time.” Another pointed out that their job descriptions didn’t include editing or reviewing AI-produced content.
James Whitbrook, Gizmodo’s Deputy Editor, didn’t hold back in expressing his frustration. In an interview with The Post, he said he had never dealt with such incompetence from his colleagues before. He criticized the chatbot for not even being able to put Star Wars movies in the correct order, which made him question its ability to report anything accurately. Whitbrook admitted that he hadn’t asked for the article and hadn’t seen it before it was published.
According to The Post, these AI-generated articles were written using Google’s Bard and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. G/O Media is not alone in its experimentation with AI-generated content. Other media companies, like CNET and Insider, have also dabbled in this technology, though they faced heavy criticism for their approaches.
The GMG Union, representing Gizmodo’s writers and part of the Writers Guild of America, East, has even asked readers not to click on any AI-written articles, deeming them “unethical and unacceptable.” It’s safe to say that tensions are running high.
We’ve reached out to G/O Media for comment on this situation. Let’s see what they have to say about it.
Stay tuned for more updates, my fantastic followers!
